


Bandori Masks Backstories!

by Zinthezinner



Series: BanG Dream! Girls Masks Party! [1]
Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), Masks: A New Generation (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 06:51:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19740463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zinthezinner/pseuds/Zinthezinner
Summary: A collection of short (?) ficlets about the individual and team backstories of bandori characters as masks characters! Teams are not always bands, and will be changed at whim for AUs within an AU.





	1. Setting Loose The Bull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ran (The Bull) is rescued from the facility that gave her powers by Tomoe (The Legacy)

“Tomoe?”  
“Ran! Hold on, I’m on my way!”

Through her own battle, Ran watched Tomoe nigh-effortlessly punch a path to her through gun- and knife-wielding goons. They were inside, and the pawns were crowded together, so nobody was using their guns, or… they shouldn’t be. 

Downing the goon in front of her, Ran watched as someone came up behind Tomoe, aiming point-blank at her head.

Time slowed down.

Tomoe’s family legacy had boasted invincibility, but Tomoe had yet to test it. Ran and the others had hoped that she wouldn’t need to.

Ran closed her eyes.

**_BANG!_ **

“Oi!”

Oh thank god.

Ran got back to brawling. There were four circling her, each daring another to go near her. They were afraid of her, and that felt good. Ran had yet to test her supposed powers (they’d been waiting for her to recover, supposedly), but she could take and deal punches much better now, so that was a plus.

What kind of idiot kidnaps someone a tortures them into having superpowers anyway? So many chemicals, and they’d even drilled into her brain by her temple at one point and implanted something. 

One of them finally tried something, charging her with a knife, but Ran dodged and kicked them onto the floor. Ok, so kicks were better too. Good to know. 

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she spun with a punch, but Tomoe took it without flinching.

“Oh. Sorry.”

Tomoe glared over her shoulder at the three other mooks.

“You don’t want to be here right now, got it?”

They nodded furiously before running off down the corridor Ran had come from.

“Do you know the way out?”  
“Yeah, I think I remember. Come with me!”

Tomoe led her by the hand jogging through hallways strewn with unconscious (?) bodies that Tomoe had presumably caused on her way in. After some time they came to the entrance, again littered with bodies.

“Is this really ok?”  
“What? Of course it’s ok, Ran. Let’s go, we’ll sort you out soon.”

They walked out into a sea of guns. Ah. Reinforcements. They saw someone raise a megaphone and prepare to speak, but before they could get it ready Ran felt Tomoe’s arms around her waist.

“Hey, what’re you-“ was all Ran could get out as she was lifted into the air.

Ran didn’t struggle in Tomoe’s embrace. It was a strange feeling, the wind against her for the first time in months, made stranger still by the fact that she was flying. The feeling of Tomoe being there for her was also… nice… though she’d likely never admit it.

“I HAD IT,” She yelled over the rushing air. Ran felt Tomoe recoil at that, which was rare.

“HOLD ON, I’LL SET US DOWN SOON.”

Once Tomoe judged them to be far enough away, she landed and released her. Ran stumbled, but recovered.

Tomoe took off her mask. Ran swept the hair out of her face.

“I had it.”  
“Sure you did.”  
“I was fine.”  
“And you’d’ve gotten out without my distraction?”  
“…”  
“…”  
“Maybe.”  
“Are you injured?”  
“Apart from the months-long torture I endured, no, no injuries. I got punched a bunch on the way out, but it doesn’t look like it’s even bruising, so-”  
“What did they _do_ to you?? _Torture??_ ”  
“Yeah, they kept injecting me with stuff, chemicals I guess. They even put a port in, right over my… heart…”

It was at that moment that Ran realized how hard her heart was beating. They were out of danger; it should’ve at least slowed a little, right? Was it the adrenaline, or was it Tomoe? She wasn't sure, but either way it was high time it got repressed.

“Ran? You ok there? Need a hug?”

Ran’s cheeks flushed and she bowed her head, which Tomoe took as the go-ahead. Ran was swept into a too-tight embrace, which didn't help her mental efforts to vanish those stupid emotions, nor her physical recovery from the experiments.

“Super strength... Tomoe... super strength…” she gasped out.  
“Ah right! Sorry about that, ahahahaha…”

Tomoe loosened the hug, but didn’t let go. Ran buried her head in Tomoe’s shoulder, stifling tears. God... damnit. This was too much.

“There, there. You’re going to be okay. You’re out now, and we’ll get you back home soon. You’re okay, okay?”  
“Mm.”  
“Do you want to stay with me for a bit? I can fly us off again if there’s danger-“ 

Ran interrupted her with a kiss. It was very obviously not something the taller hero had been expecting, but she returned it eagerly enough. Tomoe came away from it blushing heavily herself, and they both looked away in opposite directions.

“You saved me, so thanks,” Ran mumbled.  
“Got it. N-no worries, y’know?”

Awkward.


	2. So, Did I Sell Out?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayo (The Nomad) meets with Misaki (The Innocent) at a strange obelisk in the desert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I'm making both of the sister units have a Legacy, fuck you is why. I just really like the dynamic of one sibling getting the powers and the other not liking it. Ako's cooler about it, but she is The Reformed, so take that as you will.

“Hello? What are you doing here?”

Sayo, still somewhat dazed from having just beamed down, drew her blaster and aimed it at the bear mascot. This place was supposed to be empty.

“Friend or foe?”  
“Friend!” the stranger said, raising their arms.  
“Oh?”  
“My name is… Michelle, she/her. I know it looks bad with the other me, but I’m innocent. Please put the gun away.”  
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, but I’ll stash it for now.”  
"Thanks."

Sayo holstered her blaster, watching Michelle closely. The pink bear was familiar, intimately so, but it… couldn’t be the real Michelle, could it? The one she saw on TV when she was a kid? 

“What do you mean by ‘other you’?”  
“What do you mean by what do I mean? She's been sporadically doing big crimes for 3 years now, it's very open. I guess you’ve been elsewhere, huh?”  
“You could say that. I’ve been… hitchhiking for the past few years. Across the galaxy, in fact.”  
“That explains the blaster then, I suppose.”  
“It’s not just a blaster, it has several settings. It’s on stun right now.”

Michelle seemed understanding, as much as an unmoving cartoonish bear face could seem anything other than the default 'happy'.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the Michelle I saw growing up?”  
“Possibly? I was on TV quite a bit back in my normal time, and I know I - she - came back just a year after I left in ’97. She probably kept up the public appearance before she did what she did.”  
“I loved you.” slipped out of Sayo’s mouth without warning.  
“You what?”  
“I- it wasn’t like that, not really, I wasn’t…” she said, backpedaling.

Sayo sighed and gathered herself, running a hand through her hair as she did.

“Everyone loved you. You were what I wanted to be when I inherited the legacy. Before…”  
“Before..?”  
“Before my twin sister stole it from me. She’s the reason I ran away.”  
“I see. Why’d you come back then?”  
“I’d heard that she’d died. I figured I’d get back my powers. I’m stronger now, and if she’s dead they’ll have to let me take over. I want to be like you, I want to be a hero. I’ve trained so hard…”  
“I bet, yeah. I’m proud of you for trying. We should probably sit down though, yeah? There’s some shade on this side of the obelisk, and it beats standing out in the open desert.”  
“Sure.”

Sayo followed her hero into the deep shadow of the monolith and sat down, feeling the cool sand through her thin gloves.

“So, did I sell out?”  
“Indeed you did. It was my favourite cereal, only out for a limited time. If my parents kept my room the way I left it, I’ll still have the cut-outs.”  
“I hope they kept it then. That’s really sweet of you, ..? What’s your name?”  
“Sayo Hikawa, she/her.”  
“Sayo-san then. I never thought I’d get popular enough for that, ahaha,” the bear laughed.

Sayo took a deep breath. She had to fix this before it got too awkward. She was never good at that.

“It’s not like I was the only one who liked you anyway. Like I said, plenty of other people loved you.”  
“How could I – she – do that then? How could she ruin that adoration? After what, almost 20 years of hero business?”  
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know. Like I said, I was travelling before you did… whatever it is that you did.”  
“Hostage situation. She kidnapped some important politicians and held them for ransom. That’s as much as I’ve heard so far, I only just got here myself maybe a week ago, and I’ve been too exhausted by everything to do much.”  
“Then we’re in the same boat, it would seem. How did you get here, if you don’t mind my asking? It’s a bit out-of-the-way, and you seem to be alone. You don’t look old enough to drive.”  
“Thanks, neither do you. This thing was calling to me, so I had my new friend Ushigome-san drop me off. She's been helping me out.”  
“She didn’t come with you?”  
“I told her it was important that I go alone and as soon as possible. She's on standby at the road.”

Sayo couldn’t help but wonder if there was a common thread. In truth, she had been drawn to this obelisk as well. It was a good spot to be dropped off at surreptitiously, so that was the reason she gave on her request, but it wasn’t the only reason. It had called to her as well.

“Ah, it’s stopped. The call. I’d been waiting here for like an hour and it didn’t stop then,” Michelle explained.  
“You’re right, it has stopped. Odd.”  
“You got it too then?”  
“I did.”  
“Weird coincidence, huh.”  
“Or fate,” Sayo whispered to herself.

Maybe it was fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know exactly how this is going to pan out, but the timeline so far is:
> 
> 1995 - Misaki puts on Michelle for the first time and starts doing hero business  
> 1997 - Misaki/Michelle is launched into the future  
> 1998 - Older!Michelle reappears in the past  
> 2015 - Hina inherits the Legacy, forcing Sayo to run away from home. Later this very year, Older!Michelle, having continued to do hero business for 17 years, finally loses it and begins her life of crime  
> 2018 - The Present Day. Innocent!Misaki/Michelle arrives from the past and Sayo arrives from outer space.


	3. Ran Gets Kidnapped (For The Second Time (And This Is Just The Backstories))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ran (The Bull) is kidnapped, and the rest of Afterglow is given a chance to rescue her. 
> 
> Featuring Moca (The Outsider), Himari (The Protégé), Tomoe (The Legacy), and Tsugumi (The Janus)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not in the books, but with That One Comic, I figured it'd be fun to let Tsugumi have clones. Some explanations for the clone names, so you know how to pronounce them before you get there:  
> Tsugum1 - **Tsugumi** \- Tsugu prime. Tsugumi, but the i is replaced by a 1  
> 2guニ - **Twoguni** \- Tsugumi but 2 replaces tsu, and that weird character at the end is "ni", the Japanese for two.  
> Tsugu3 - **Tsuguthree** \- Tsugumi but with a 3 instead of mi. This is fun, because a certain way of reading the Japanese character for 3 is "mittsu", so there is still a mi in there  
> Tsugu四 - **Tsugushi** \- Tsugumi but mi is replaced by "shi", the Japanese for four.  
> Tsu五mi - **Tsugomi** \- Tsugumi but gu is replaced by "go", the Japanese for five.
> 
> Yes, I _am_ proud of myself for these number puns.

“So yeah, that’s what my sensei taught me today!”  
“Hii-chan, do you even know their name~?”  
“I… I don’t know my sensei’s name and at this point I’m too afraid to ask. I’m pretty sure they have some like, superpower… thingy… that makes them scary.”  
“Bet you wish they’d teach you that, huh Hii-chan?”

Tsugumi could see Himari’s pout grow more intense before Tomoe stepped in.

“Now, you don’t want Himari mad again, do you? You remember what happened last time.”  
“Those were sensitive, top-secret documents~ That wasn’t fair at all~”  
“Moca, it was p-“  
“Um! Tomoe-chan, your phone?”

The drummer looked down, indeed seeing her phone buzzing in her pocket. She excused herself and ducked out.

Tsugumi looked at Moca, and then at Himari. 

“Do you think she’s got another girlfriend?”  
“I wouldn’t be surprised. Tomo-chin’s so popular, she could abandon us at any time and be perfectly happy~”  
“Moca! She wouldn’t do that!”  
“Himari-chan’s right, she wouldn’t do that!”  
“W-would she though?”

Just then, Tomoe walked back into Himari’s bedroom, hitting the button for the speaker and turning the volume up just a little. Conversation died immediately. Moca looked as though she was going to say something before the digitally altered voice interrupted her.

“Your bandmate, Ran Mitake, is missing. I have her. Comply with my demands and I will release her.”

Tsugumi nodded to Himari, who quietly retrieved one of her hacking devices and connected it to Tomoe’s phone.

“Like hell we’re doing that! A city with superheroes and you think you can get away with this?”  
“I know she’s a super herself. She poses no threat to me. If you do not comply with my demands, I will sell her to the highest bidder to be experimented on. Call the cops or superheroes and I kill her myself.”

Himari nodded back at Tsugumi, signalling that she’d traced it.

“What do you mean she’s super~?” Moca asked playfully.  
“Who said that?”  
“The magnificent Moca-chan did~!”  
“Ah yes. The alien.” Said the voice, racist disdain obvious even through the heavy distortion.

“I was under the impression that she’d told you, alien. What with you being on a team with her and all, that is.” the voice called.

So they knew both of Ran’s identities. Great. Tsugumi hoped they hadn’t done too much research. 

“Ran Mitake has superpowers. Those who gave them to her are eager to get her back, but so are other scientists who want to… shall we say… deconstruct her. Reverse engineer her. See what makes her tick. I am giving you, her band, the opportunity to buy her back, because I’m feeling generous.”  
“So what do we have to do?”  
“Seventy million yen.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at that. How were they supposed to get that much money?

“B-but we don’t have seventy million yen! That’s not fair…”  
“She’s a superweapon. People will pay a pretty penny for a girl like her.”  
“If she’s a superweapon, how did you capture her in the first place?”  
“She was alone. I was not. It’s as simple as that. Get the money, or else she goes to whoever else can afford her. You have a week.”  
“B-but they might kill her! Or enslave her! Or-“  
“Not my problem.”  
“She’s just a kid!”  
“And I’m the bad guy.” The voice explained.

They were given a location at which to meet up with someone to wire the money to.

“Nice doing business with you. Good luck, Afterglow.” Said the voice, hanging up.

Moca, Tomoe, and herself looked expectantly at Himari, who turned her gadget to them.

“So that’s where they are~ Are we going now~?”  
“Yes!”  
“Not you, Tsugu.”  
“I can do it! I’ve been practicing really hard, you know I have! I’ll keep enough copies up that I won’t get hurt, so please… I want Ran-chan back as much as the rest of you!”

The three of them looked at each other, not entirely convinced. Tsugumi put on her ‘determined’ face.

“This trafficker person seems really dangerous, Tsugu.”  
“Exactly! You’ll need as many people as you can get, and without outside help that means me! Please! I can double our numbers, and I’m good at fighting now, and I really want to help…”  
“Well… it would be doubling our numbers…”  
“And she has been getting better…”  
“And she is Tsugurific…”

The three checked with each other once more before nodding simultaneously. Tsugumi felt a mixture of elation and trepidation. 

“Ok! Let’s suit up!”  
"Yeah!"

Tsugumi could finally put on the mask for real!

***

Having suited up, they got into Himari’s car. She’d gotten a special license from the city specifically for hero business, as Ran and Tsugumi couldn’t fly, and Himari could only fly when Moca or Tomoe were around. Himari’s mentor had gifted her their old car, and it worked well enough.

With Moca flying overhead and scouting, they made good time to the supposedly abandoned warehouse on the edge of town.

Tsugumi suggested that Himari park the car further away and make the approach on foot. Well, for Tsugumi and Himari, anyway. Moca transformed into a pterodactyl, and Tomoe flew too. Tsugumi made four clones, and Himari mentally prepared herself to copy… whatever it was that the trafficker had in terms of powers.

Tsugumi worried that maybe she was stretching herself thin, but she could do it, right? And even if she couldn’t, four more superheroes would be scarier, right?

There were three goons by the front, presumably guarding the place and presumably in the possession of guns. Himari hacked a distraction, and Tomoe rendered them unconscious before they could raise the alarms. Tomoe lifted the loading bay door, exposing them to…

A sea of rifles, with some snipers thrown in on upper floors for flavour. Ran herself was suspended in a cage high above the factory floor. 

Ah. 

All five Tsugumi trembled slightly. Maybe coming along had been a bad idea after all… But they weren’t shooting immediately, so maybe they were waiting for something?

“We’ve come for Ran!” Tomoe exclaimed, seemingly unafraid. Rightly so, as she was (as far as anyone could tell) completely invincible.

A moment elapsed as a figure made their way down the steps to the factory floor.

“Stand down!”

The mooks lowered their guns, making way for the mysterious green-clad figure, who stepped to the front, clapping their hands.

“Ran, huh?”

The trafficker (?) did kinda sound like the voice on the phone, distorted though it had been earlier. Himari had been correct, then.

“I see you brought your team, alien. I expected as much. Those five are new, though. What’re your names, sweethearts?”

Tsugumi felt shivers run down her spines. She didn’t like that.

“You don’t get to know that!” She forced Tsugu3 to say. Tsugum1 hid herself on the left of 2guニ, with Tsugu3 in the middle, Tsugu四 on her right, and Tsu五mi right of her.

“Oh? Well, I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough. Finally on the scene, I see. Shall we test how good you are then, lovelies? All of you, including the others in your team. I’ll call my associates off, just the 8 of you versus me.”  
“Doesn’t sound like a fair fight.”  
“You’re right, but unfortunately I can’t give Miss Mitake back to make it more even.”

A real cocky one, huh? Then again, they had taken down Ran, and apart from Tomoe she was the toughest in the group. Maybe there was good reason to be so confident…

“You got a name, asshole?”  
“Yeah! You got a name?”  
“Tell us your name so we know what to tell the police when they clean up~!”  
“Y-yeah! Name?” Tsugumi said in staggered almost-unison. She had to make it at least look like they weren’t the same person, right?

“I don’t have a name, I have a number. If I don’t get yours, you’re not getting mine. Shall we fight?”

The trafficker moved their ‘associates’ into a large circle, forming ample room in a human arena for them to fight. Moca ascended in her pterodactyl form, Tomoe staying on the ground in a fighting stance with Himari. This was Tsugumi’s first real fight, but she’d sparred with the others before. She knew to fan herselves out, and she did. 

“Ready? Go!”

Tomoe rushed in, making herself a target so that Moca could sweep down and carry the trafficker into the air. It worked, but Moca exposed a weakness, which the villain exploited. They sent a massive energy blast into her soft belly, sending her (and them) crashing to the warehouse floor. 

They rolled out of it, straight into an energy blast from Himari. It barely staggered them, however Tomoe’s punch sent them flying into the centre of the ring. Tsugu四 and Tsu五mi hurried to the downed figure, holding them on the floor long enough for Tomoe to start her hastened approach. Moca had recovered by this point, and charged as well, in tiger form. Himari, not to be left out, ran closer, presumably taking Tomoe’s super strength with her.

Before they could get to them, however, it all stopped. Tsugu四 and Tsu五mi couldn’t move, Tsugum1 felt almost entirely disconnected from them. Moca was dangling mid-leap, Himari’s pigtails were caught mid-bounce, Tomoe’s run had come to a dizzying halt. Had they… stopped time?

Tsugumi watched in horror as Tsugu四 and Tsu五mi were thrown to the sides of the trafficker, who dusted themself off. They stomped on her necks, and Tsugum1 felt the connections completely sever.

Tsugumi were just standing there.

They moved to Moca and kicked her in the head, letting the blow knock her to the ground before freezing her again. They made to move for Himari. 

Tsugumi were just standing there.

She had to do something! If they kept freezing them in time, there was no way any of Afterglow could fight back!

“The guns!” Ran shouted from above.  
“W-what?”  
“Get the guns!”  
“R-right! Ok!”

Tsugumi trusted Ran. If this person was capable of taking both their own energy blast and kind of taking one of Tomoe’s punches, surely a bullet or two would barely do anything, right? Just enough to stop them, right?

2guニ watched in horror as the trafficker punched Himari in the gut, downing her. She was trying to keep a vigilant eye on the situation while the other two did her thing, but... it was proving difficult.

Tsugum1 and Tsugu3 ran to the edge of the ring and grabbed guns from the goons, one for each of the three of them.

None of her wanted to do this, but there was enough determination in her minds that she had to. 

2guニ fired. Tsugumi half expected the bullet to stop with the rest of time, but it didn’t. Tsugum1 and Tsugu3 closed her eyes, and 2guニ watched the bullet sink into the figure of the enemy. It… didn’t seem to go far. It didn’t bounce off, but it also didn’t tear a hole through them like Tsugumi were hoping it would.

Slowly, the trafficker turned to face her. They took a step.

Oh cr-

Without making the conscious decision to, she fired again, and her other two joined in.

The trafficker grew weaker, evidenced by the fact that Himari was clutching her stomach and groaning. Tomoe skidded to a halt, and tiger!Moca breathed heavily as she picked herself up. 

Still, the enemy –her enemy– advanced towards the ever-less-hesitant hail of bullets.

Tsugum1 was finally able to vanish the fallen clones, letting power flow to 2guニ and Tsugu3.

“Evacuate!” yelled the trafficker.  
“But boss-“  
“Evacuate! I’ll finish this myself.”  
“Do we-“  
“Yes! Go!”

Tsugumi couldn’t afford to close her eyes. In her peripheral vision, she saw Tomoe wrestling with some mooks for control of Ran’s cage. Good. She’d be able to release the caged Bull, and then the two of them could re-join the fight.

Moca pounced, sinking her claws and teeth into the enemy. Still they marched on. Tsugumi abandoned her guns, not wanting to accidentally shoot Moca.

Tsugumi were practically face-to-face with them now. Moca was chewing tirelessly, but it didn’t seem to be of much use. They picked the frozen 2guニ up by her neck. Tsugum1 could practically feel the fingers wrapped around her throat when she heard rapid footsteps. Moca disengaged. Tsugumi braced for impact.

Ran smashed into the trafficker, gore squishing out of the myriad bullet holes as she did. The two of them were sent far by her momentum, landing both on the ground. In less than a second, Ran was straddling them, punching and punching and punching and punching.

Tomoe had helped Himari up by now, and the five of them approached the mess. 

“Ran! That’s enough.”  
“No it’s not.”  
“Yes it is.”  
“You don’t know what they did.”  
“Ran, don’t make me come over there. They’ve had enough, alright? We don’t kill.”

Tsugumi’s eyes darted between Ran’s determined face and the red pulp of the trafficker’s face.

“Ran-chan… please…”

Ran stared Tsugumi down, wiping tears from her eyes. She squeezed in one last punch before retreating.

“…Fine.”

Tsugumi smiled weakly. 

The warehouse was empty but for them, the goons having retreated more or less successfully. The enemy was unconscious, but breathing. They could really take a beating, huh?

“Is everyone ok?” Himari asked through a deluge of tears.  
“Y-yeah.” Tsugumi lied. She’d never lost a clone like that before… it was scary… but three of her were still ok, so close enough, right?

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Reading those weird uses of plural Tsugumi was probably fun for you, the audience," is what I'm telling myself.


End file.
